Flashing by: a child’s life online

Frans Hofmeester began taking pictures of his daughter Lotte when she was born. Now she is 12, he has posted a time-lapse video of her on YouTube, which has already been seen by almost 9m people (Frans Hoffmeester)

FROM baby teeth to locks of hair, parents have always been fond of sentimental
souvenirs of their children growing up. But the days of a well-thumbed baby
album have given way to a new craze — time-lapse videos.

The videos involve the collection of images taken every week, or even every
day, as a child grows up. These are pieced together in a clip that lasts
several minutes. Some are going viral on the internet.

Last month, Frans Hofmeester, 52, posted a time-lapse video lasting 2 minutes,
49 seconds of his 12-year-old daughter Lotte online. Within days it had been
seen by 2m people. Today, that figure is nearing 9m.

Hofmeester, a Dutch filmmaker who lives near Amsterdam, started filming when
his daughter was born. “I noticed differences between her at two days and
two weeks. I wanted to capture the changes because they were happening so
fast so I started filming